Trailer



v E. A. KING TRAILER Filed oct. 1v, 1919 2 sheets-sheet 1 l5, 1927.. y E. A. KING 4 5 T RAILER Filed Oct; 17, 1919 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Feb. 115, 1927. Y

arreter A. 1er-Neg'- or4v coiwnoiv, IOWA.

.n TRAILER i entienda filed ,come 17.1919; Serial nel @fa-1am.y

Thisinvention relates tontrailerskfand has for its primary.k object the construction of, a4 .trailer that will positively follow. the track. of the. hauling vehicle, thereby preventing:

the tendency of thetrailer tomove to either slide ofz its proper. lineof travel@which,whenI it VtakesPlace. interferes. materially with. the eflicient hauling. of 'ai .trailer ande more es.- pecially when there is more than one trailer; The object oftheinvent-ion. isf. tol accom-y plish. a mechanical lconnectionbetween the wheelsof the trailer, softfhaty all; of the'wheelsY will be simultaneously inclined to. a proper degree t0.

ahead whenmaking ai turn.

A further object of the invention', is., to. provide aI rigidconnection between] the sup: porting wheelsy` of a. trailer,'which in this;

particular case `arerpivoted that.V will in. no,

way interfere. with they spring'- action of, the

bod'v of the trailer.

. Besides, the above 'my invention svds-4 tinguished4 in the novel manner of connecting andF associatingrtheparts of my mecha nism so thatthe guiding action of the wheels of each trailer may be regulated according to the position of the trailer in the train.

With these and other objects in view the invention will be better understood from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a bottom plan view of the chassis of atrailer constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 isa longitudinal sectional view of the chassis.

Fig. 3 'is a sectional view of the actuator.

Fig. 4 is a view of the guiding means between each pair of wheels.

Fig. 5 is a detailed view of the ball and socket connection. Y f

Fig. 6 is a detailed sectional view of a modiiied form of my invention.

Again referring to the drawings illusltrating one of the many forms in which my invention may be constructed numeral #l designates, a frame which corresponds to the ordinary frame of a motor vehicle, hereinafter to be known as the upper frame. A lower frame 2 is Xed to the axle-s 3- and 4 of a front pair of wheels -5 anda rear pair of wheels By referring to Fig. 1 it will be noted that each wheel of each pair is pivotally connected to its axle as indicated at 7 so that the follow thei track of: the vehicle.

trailermay be, guidedt in its travel.' Knuckles: 8 of the pivotal. `connectionof the rear Wheels are connected together by a rod 9,. while. ay

rod 1.0.. similarly connects theA pivots of. the` Ar leven 1l.. is, pivy front Wheels. togetherg. n o tally. connected. to; the trame. 2 as. indicated.

at 12 so., as to;swing=ina`horizontal.plan@ f Qnefend of this.. lever is. flexibly connected; hyal link, 13y with rod Sfivhile the remaining endLA is liexibly connected byl a, linl .l1.4. to'. the rod 10. '"lhusit-willif beJ seen thatupon guiding movement of the. frontfset o twheels,v this movement-will. be transmitted, to. the

rear. set oiijwheels. through theleverr11f` Aiff tention is. called; to. thev fact. thatpthe .degreei ot. in ,ovement oli-the rear. set 'of wheels-with.; relation to, the movement off the trontfset,

mayi be accurately regulatediby,positioning pix/o t12;l Lhe uppertrannewhich4 supports.

the body that, carries the load is allowed' the etere" Serine' action;- by.. Yco..miectine;.g tlie springs 1:3 and' loin, a, manner."nowgtobcv described- The rear set of Spr-ingst l eaclifhas its.. ends "pivotally as well asy displaceably con nected to the upper frame by clips 17 while its intermediate portion is fixed to the frame 2. Each of the front springs 16 is fixed to the frame 2 and has one end pivotally and displaceably connected lto frame 1 `by a clip 18. The remaining end of the spring 1.6 has only a pivotal connection with the frame 1 as indicated at 19 with the result that the frame 1 may have the proper resilient movement without disturbing the lixed relation of the elements of my guiding mechanism.v i*

For the purpose of giving automatic movement tothe parts heretofore described in the travel of the vehicle to which the trailer is connected I provide the actuating means now to be described.

This actuating means consists of a frame 20 li'Xed to a stationarypart of the trailer. Pivotally connected to this frame 20 asindicated at 21 is a tongue 22 which connects to the vehicle ahead. An actuator 23 has a pivotal connection 24 with a sleeve 25 slidingly mounted on the tongue and further` has a ball and socket connection 26 with sate for the .swinging movement of the tongue and the movement ofthe actuator 23. As illustratedin Fig. 5 a ball and socket connection 27 v will be used to accomplish` the pivotal connection between the various parts. For instance the actuator may be constructed as illustrated in Fig. 6 in which I have illustrated the sleeve 28 as provided with sockets 29 for the reception of a ball 30 on each ofthe connecting` members 31.

I have found out from practical demonn stration of my invention that the Vthrow of the front wheels of each trailer must be proportionately increased ony each succeeding trailer from the hauling vehicle to insure the proper following of one trailer behind vthe other. @ne method of accom- Aplishing this result is illustrated in Fig. 6

wherein I have shown the member 31 consisting of 2 parts 32 and 33 having a sliding connection with eachother so as to be eX- tended 0r collapsed for regulating. the position of the .sleeve with relation to pivot 21 thereby regulating the throw of the actuator. One of the parts may be provided with graduated marks 34 for determining the relative position-of the parts. The parts 32 and 33 may be clamped in an adjusted position in anyV suitable manner such as by a n bolt 35 cooperating with a pluralityof openings 36 in' one of the parts. Y

In concluding my description Iwish to lcall attention to the fact that I do not desire` to belimited to the exact construction of my mechanism illustrated in the drawings as the parts may be constructed in various other manners and associated in other 'relationanch therefore, I do not desire to be limitedy in any manner except as set forth in the claims hereunto appended.'

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is-VV Y l. VIn combination with a trailer including, steering wheels mounted thereon7 a tongue pivotally mounted for movement about ak vertical axis, a sleeve slidab'le on the tongue,

pivotally mounted for movement about. aV

vertical axis7 'and wheel operating members operatively connected at their` outer ends'to the wheels and slidably connected at-their inner ends to the tongue for movement lon'- 'gitudinally thereof, said members' being adjustable in length to vary the point of Connection between said tongue and theoperating members relative to the pivot of the tongue.

y In testimony whereof I afIiXpmy signature.

EMORY A. KING. 

